US embassy cable - 05PARIS6547

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 006547 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FROM USMISSION UNESCO PARIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/23/2015 
TAGS: SCUL, ETRD, EU, UNESCO 
SUBJECT:  (C) USUNESCO:  CULTURAL DIVERSITY CONVENTION, 
FRANCE APPLIES PRESSURE TO ISRAEL 
 
REF: (a) Paris 4145, b) Paris 6376 (NOTAL), c) State 170909 
 
Classified by Ambassador Louise Oliver, reasons 1.4 (b) and 
(d). 
 
1. (C) At the final negotiating session in Paris on the 
draft cultural diversity convention, Israel was one of the 
few countries to stick with the US. (Ref A) 
 
2. (C) On Thursday, newly arrived Israeli Ambassador to 
UNESCO David Kornbluth gave Ambassador Oliver a read-out of 
his courtesy call on French Cultural Minister Donnedieu de 
Vabres.  According to Kornbluth, as he was leaving, the 
minister asked him what was Israel's problem with the 
convention. 
 
3. (C) Kornbluth answered that the draft is too 
protectionist, presents potential conflicts with the WTO and 
needs more time. In response, Donnediu de Vabres asked a 
second time why Israel was standing with the US, was it 
simply to stick with the US or did Israel have real 
substantive objections to the text?  Kornbluth repeated his 
comments on the text and that Israel would continue to stand 
by the US. He also reports that the minister was visibly 
annoyed by Kornbluth's comment about the US. 
 
4. (C) Kornbluth has reported his meeting to Jerusalem and 
the Israeli government is currently reevaluating.  He 
believes his government will not change its policy.  He also 
suggested that a high level demarche to Jerusalem might be a 
good idea. 
 
5. (C) Comment:  As we reported ref b, this is the second 
time that the French have put pressure on the Israelis.  It 
is once again clear that when it comes to the cultural 
diversity convention, the US is clearly France's target. 
Pressure will need to be applied to the Israeli government 
to make sure it stays firm. 
 
OLIVER